Series 1 Monster Cards (Series 1 Card Layout Part 1)

     While we're familiar with the modern card format, it wasn't something that'd been established immediately on release. What we call the UNIFIED WORLD FORMAT is something Konami built up to. So how did Konami design the earliest cards? Let's find out.

    The previous post discussed the different types of cards that are the building blocks of the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game. Today's post will be discussing how Series 1 monsters were designed.

Name                                                    Attribute (属（ぞく）性（せい） Zokusei)

 

                                     IMAGE 

Race  (種（しゅ）族（ぞく） Shuzoku)    Attack Power  (攻（こう）撃（げき）力（りょく）Kōgekiryoku)

Lore                                 Defense Power (守（しゅ）備（び）力（りょく）Shubiryoku)

Password                                                                     Copyright                                                                                                                                     

NAME: As the name implies, this is the name of the card

ATTRIBUTE: The element in which the card is described as. Silver Fang (the monster above) is an EARTH Attribute monster The Attributes for the vast majority of cards in Yu-Gi-Oh! are:

DARKNESS - 闇（やみ） Yami

EARTH - 地（ち） Chi

FLAME - 炎（ほのお） Honō

LIGHT - 光（ひかり） Hikari

WATER - 水（みず） Mizu

WIND - 風（かぜ） Kaze

RACE: Also translatable to Tribe, this is the group in which the monster belongs to. In the Japanese text, 族（ぞく）is  is used to denote that it's describing the Tribe in which the monster belongs. Silver Fang, for example, belongs in the 獣（けもの）(Beast) Tribe which is listed as 獣（けもの）族（ぞく）(Kemono-zoku). There are multiple Tribes (TCG: Types) in the modern game, but Series 1 began with:

天（てん）使（し）Tenshi "Angel" (TCG: Fairy) 

獣（けもの）Kemono "Beast" 

獣（じゅう）戦（せん）士（し）Jūsenshi "Beast Warrior" (TCG: Beast-Warrior) 

鳥（ちょう）獣（じゅう）Chōjū "Bird Beast" (TCG: Winged Beast)

悪（あく）魔（ま） Akuma, "Demon" (TCG: Fiend) 

恐（きょう）竜（りゅう）Kyōryū "Dinosaur"

ドラゴン Doragon "Dragon"

魚（さかな）Sakana "Fish"

炎（ほのお）Honō "Flame" (TCG: Pyro)

昆（こん）虫（ちゅう）Konchū "Insect"

機（き）械（かい） Kikai "Machine" 

魔（ま）法（ほう）使（つか）い Mahōtsukai "Magician/Magic User" (TCG: Spellcaster)

植（しょく）物（ぶつ） Shokubutsu "Plant"

爬（は）虫（ちゅう）類（るい） Hachūrui "Reptile"

岩（がん）石（せき） Ganseki "Rock"

 海（かい）竜（りゅう）Kairyū, "Sea Dragon" (TCG: Sea Serpent)

雷（いかずち）Ikazuchi "Thunder"

アンデット Andetto, "Undead" (TCG: Zombie)

 戦（せん）士（し） Senshi "Warrior"

水（みず） Mizu "Water" (TCG: Aqua) 

LORE: Where flavor text for monsters are written. 

ATTACK POWER (攻（こう）撃（げき）力（りょく）Kōgekiryoku): How much Attack Power (TCG: ATK) a monster has

DEFENSE POWER (守（しゅ）備（び）力（りょく）Shubiryoku): How much Defense Power (TCG: DEF) a monster has

PASSWORD: This has no purpose in the game itself, but it is the location of the card on Konami's database. This is used in many of Konami's video games.

COPYRIGHT: The copyright of Kazuki Takahashi for his creation of the Yu-Gi-Oh card game. The year the card was printed is always posted here as well.

CONCLUSION

These have been more or less constants in Konami monster card design. The old cards before the Unified World Format can be read with a smidgen of understanding of Japanese, allowing everyone to see the foundations of the modern Yu-Gi-Oh! monster card as we know it today.



 

 


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